15 August 2008
I’ll start with a quote from Condoleezza Rice secretary of state. “This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia, where Russia can invade its neighbor, occupy a capital, overthrow a government and get away with it. Things have changed.” Sorry Condi, that is just what has happened so far. President Bush issued his strongest warning that Russia abide by the cease-fire and withdraw its forces which I guess fell on deaf ears because Russia seems to be digging in. The Russian military have been killing civilians and looting homes and stores.
The U.S. is sending American military on a humanitarian mission which the Georgian President interpreted as a decision to defend Georgia’s ports and airports but the White House quickly denied it. “We won’t be protecting the airport or seaport, but we’ll certainly protect our assets if we need to. â€A Pentagon official said the relief effort was “to show to Russia that we can come to the aid of a European ally, and that we can do it at will, whenever and wherever we want.†So now we’re flexing our muscles. All it would take is a trigger happy yahoo on either side to shoot a military person to start a real problem.
Wording in the cease fire agreement was vague enough to allow Russia to do almost anything. There was a provision that required Russian forces to withdraw to their “normal bases of encampment†but allowed them to “implement additional security measures.†In Russia, the foreign minister, warned the Bush administration that it risked a breach with Russia by throwing its support behind Georgia and its president. Things seem to be heating up.
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